Photograph courtesy of Alana Smith
Alana Smith
By Stephanie Gibson Lepore
Magic Air tells its story from a child’s perspective. “Kids love to hear from other kids,” Alana says. “The narrator’s voice and the fun illustrations make this intimidating topic approachable.”
Alana took dolls, mini hospital gowns, and a model anesthesia machine to classrooms to demonstrate the points she makes in the book.
You’re likely familiar with Alana Smith’s writing. After all, she pens a monthly column—Holy Moly Motherhood—for this magazine, and her very relatable blog-turned-Facebook posts of the same name has been entertaining (and reassuring) moms for a decade now. Alana is also a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA). In that job, and often working with children, she observed the apprehension of kiddos who needed anesthesia to undergo medical procedures. Naturally, as a mom of two boys ages nine and four, she thought about what she’d want her own kids to know before surgery. “We love books and I realized we didn’t have any about surgery,” Alana says. “After some research, I found that no one had written any books about surgery. There was nothing on the market that would prepare my kids if they ever needed surgery in the future.”
So, Alana did it herself, drawing on her boys for inspiration. She dove right in, making notes and an outline in a spiral notebook, learning about publishing, and searching for the just-right illustrator for the book, titled Magic Air: Ten Kid-Sized Steps to Surgery. After a robust Kickstarter campaign last year that raised more than $24,000, the book finally arrived to Alana last month. “I sent my files to my printer overseas in February. Four thousand were printed (it took over a month to print that many!), then [the books] headed to the U.S. via boat in April and finally arrived to me in June!” she says.
As the shipment was sailing across the Atlantic, Alana took a book tour of sorts, visiting kids to walk them through the 10 steps she writes about in Magic Air.
“While I was waiting on the bulk of the books to arrive, I visited several classrooms and read my book, and I demonstrated how the pre-operative and surgery process goes for kiddos,” she says. “I made a pretend anesthesia machine and brought dolls in hospital gowns for them to practice with. The kids loved this and were so curious and inquisitive about the process. My best comment from a child after reading and playing with the masks and equipment has been, “Oh, this isn’t so scary!”” From the mouths of babes: Alana’s book mission, accomplished.
Photo courtesy of Alana Smith
Once the delivery arrived, round two of motivation kicked in. “It was a mixture of joy, relief, and excitement,” she says. Along with those emotions came the fulfillment work. “I have been packing over 500 preorders from my house, and new orders are rolling in daily,” she says, noting she’s doing so in addition to working full-time and taking care of her boys. “It’s been a wild ride trying to mail out so many packages!”
Alana faces the challenge with her usual sense of laid-back humor, and then immediately refocuses on her main mission: “After I mail everyone’s orders, I’ll be making donations to Children’s of Alabama, The Bell Center, Easter Seals, and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta,” she says. “I had so many gracious donors and sponsors during my preorder phase, that I have lots of books for kiddos headed to surgery.”
She’s also signed contracts to get Magic Air in several local shops. As for the future, she says, “I hope to be in local bookstores and hospital gift shops, as well. Of course, I’ll be on Amazon in the next months, but I wanted to make sure all my early supporters had their books, and my donations were made prior to launching there. And I’d love to partner with nonprofits and hospitals to donate to more kiddos. I am just so proud to see two-and-a-half years of work finally come together. I can’t wait to see where this goes.”
To order a copy of Magic Air: Ten Kid-Sized Steps to Surgery, visit Alana’s publishing imprint at sleepingbirdbooks.com.